CARM Newsletter 06/14/2002

ONE WEEK TO GOOnly one week to go until the first annual CARM Convention. The radio ads have been running for several days and this Sunday we will have an ad in the religious section of the Dallas Morning News. It will be held on June 22, at the Colleyville First Baptist Church, Colleyville, TX. Doors open at 8:30.

For more info on the CARM convention go to www.carm.org. On the right side is a link in yellow that says, "CARM CONVENTION." Just click on it and you can have regular updated information.

To be honest, I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. It is quite exciting and I am looking forward to meeting so many people who have supported CARM over the years.

----------------------------------CORRECTIONIn my last newsletter I stated that Mormonism teaches that the Holy Ghost is the third member of the Trinity. Mormonism teaches that the Trinity is three separate gods: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I stated "The Mormons teach that He is a male personage of flesh and bones." It should have read, "The Mormons teach that He is a male personage yet without flesh and bones." Thank you for your patience.

===========================SHORT BIBLE LESSON - WHAT IS TRUTH?In John 18:38, Pilate asked, "What is truth?" That question is one of the best questions asked in the entire Bible...and it was asked by an unbeliever. "What is truth?" The answer to this question is very important since various religions, secular movements, ideologies, etc., all claim to ultimately base their presuppositions on the answer to that question. Of course, in Christianity, we hold to the truth that Jesus is God in flesh (John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9), that He died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-4), and that on the cross He bore our sins in his body (1 Pet. 2:24).

But truth to others can consist of believing there is no God, to believe God came from another planet (Mormonism), to God being an eternal divine essence emanating in the universe (New Age), to whatever other position that the human mind can conjure up. The problem is that they cannot all be true since truth does not contradict itself. God cannot be a man from another planet and NOT a man from another planet. We cannot have God exist and not exist.

So, what is truth? I like to say that truth is what corresponds to reality. Look at it this way. Reality exists. Reality is not an illusion (if it were, the statement "reality is an illusion" would be an illusion and not true). Therefore, truth is that which conforms to reality. Truth is not self contradictory and truth exists. Since truth exists and is not self contradictory, it is absolute. Therefore, what is absolutely true is that which corresponds to absolute reality.

Is it reality that Jesus is God? that He rose from the dead? that He walked on water? Yes, yes, and yes. Of course, there are those who will disagree with these statements. To do so, they would have to say that they are not 'real,' they are not true. But that is another subject for another time.

The Bible does not defend itself as the truth. It simply assumes it is the truth. It assumes that it is the revelation of God who is true and the creator of reality. It is self attesting and carries the prophecies, fulfillment, and history of Jesus who, according to the eyewitnesses, died and rose from the dead. The fact is that truth corresponds to reality in the Bible. The Disciples preached and taught based upon the resurrection. Their "truth" reflected the "reality" of Christ conquering death.

When Pilate asked "What is truth," the answer could easily have been, Jesus is the truth (John 1:17; 16:4).

---------------------SUPPORT CARMIf you feel led to help out with getting CARM to full time status, please consider it. The only way I can go full-time is if people like you support it financially. If you could spare a $5 monthly deduction from your credit card and want to see CARM become much bigger than it already is, then please check out the donations page at http://www.carm.org/goods/donations.htm. If enough people signed up for just $5 a month, I could do this full time and start to work on getting a staff. It is slowly working. Please seriously consider this.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++PLEASE VISIT THE CARM HOMEPAGEAt present, there are 9,000 people on this email newsletter list and it grows by about 50 a day. That means that a lot of people are checking out CARM . So, when you go to CARM could you please click on the Home Page, http://www.carm.org. It helps to be counted. So far, CARM has had over 1,881,000 visitors.

=============GOT A SUGGESTION FOR CARM OR THIS NEWSLETTER?If you have suggestions for what you would like to see in this newsletter or for CARM, please return e-mail me and let me know.

-----------------------VERSE OF THE WEEK.Phil. 1:6"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus,"(NASB).

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